The prompt for Poets and Storytellers United is
Terry Pratchett’s line — “There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a flamethrower.”
I loved that line 😂
They lingered
longer than needed.
Her heart opened.
She breathed the incense of him
while silence quivered
and she rested in his moon breath.
Soon they shared one roof,
not one heart.
The walls trembled.
She fed herself hope,
believed there was a light
at the end of the tunnel,
it was a flamethrower.
She burned.
Love is not meant
to live on the edge.
She had poured herself
into the wrong vessel
and emptied
drop by aching drop.
She tried to fill the vacuum
with whatever shimmered.
At last she circled inward,
found her own ground,
rich.
She became space:
wide, luminous,
needing nothing to be filled.
Fascinating! At first it reads as if it's about a romance, then as if it concerns domestic violence, and finally like a wondrous myth of ascension. (And all the time I wonder if I am in fact reading about pure science.)
ReplyDeleteThanks and yes exactly in that order lol
DeleteWhat a beautifully described experience of love and learning - in the end perhaps everything comes to learning how to love ourselves - Jae
ReplyDelete...there is a fabulous Redbud tree, "Flamethrower." it's a beauty.
ReplyDeleteGot to watch the edges, could be trouble. You used the prompt very nicely
ReplyDeleteI believe the biggest lesson is in the opening line ... "They lingered longer than needed" and wish we could join the dots looking forward, so that nobody has to discover the flamethrower once out of the tunnel. Perhaps life would have become too certain and monotonous that way.
ReplyDeleteI adore the ultimate strength [ needing nothing to be filled ] in your amazing poem .... brava brava.
ReplyDelete'Ash becoming space.' Wat een krachtige titel.
ReplyDeleteIk herken me in het verhaal. Het was een harde maar ook een waardevolle les. Het maakt dat ik de goede mensen om mij heen extra, extra waardeer. En die space blijf ik voelen. Altijd en overal.